The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
U.S. Capitol Building
January 6, 2025 – Washington D.C. - both Houses of Congress will meet today to formally consider the electoral college results from all fifty states to pick the next President of the United States. President-elect Donald J. Trump (R) won all seven of the "swing" states to take a commanding 312 to 226 – it only takes 270 to win.
Trump is expected to easily win. Four years ago the scene was very different with Trump and millions of his supporters across the country believing that the results showing that former Vice President Joseph R. Biden was the winner were tainted by fraud. An angry mob stormed that U.S. Capitol in 2021 after hearing fiery speeches by then President Trump and Congressman Mo Brooks (R-AL05). A scared Capitol police officer actually shot and killed Air Force soldier Ashli Babbett as she entered a window into Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-California) office. Another Capitol Police Officer died from a heart attack after battling Trump supporters. Over 1,500 Trump supporters were convicted for their roles in that demonstration. They are asking President Trump to pardon them after the Biden Justice Department prosecuted them and they received lengthy prison sentences.
While ideological liberals are aghast that they lost so convincingly, there is not expected to be anywhere near the numbers of protestors that were in D.C. four years ago.
Security is not nearly as lax as it was then too. Fences surround the Capitol - erected to boost security around the vote certification.
Congress will meet in a joint session to unseal the electoral vote records from each state. Trump is expected to receive all of the electoral voters from the state of Alabama – where he won in a landslide. The process is largely ceremonial but is a constitutionally mandated process.
The sealed votes will be carried in large mahogany boxes. They will be formally opened and the votes tabulated in front of all 534 members of Congress. Each state will be counted in alphabetic order – so Alabama will be the first results announced.
As Vice President Kamala Harris (D) will have to preside over the count and formally announce that she was beaten by Trump – likely not a moment she dreamed of when becoming VP.
This will be the first election following the 2022 passage of the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, which made it much harder for Congress to challenge the results of an election.
The 2022 act raised the threshold necessary for members of Congress to object to a state's electors. It now requires at least one-fifth of the members of both the House and the Senate objecting to the results. Previously it only required one member each from the House and the Senate.
Even though no large scale protests are anticipated local and federal law enforcement agencies are on full alert. The Washington Post has reported that Capitol Police officers were staying in hotels near the complex on Sunday night to ensure they can report for duty Monday. Five hundred soldiers with the D.C. National Guard are ready to assist if needed.
Original reporting by the Washington Post contributed to this report.
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